The One About Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan’s Mutual Deportation/Trade
It was a trade that few people saw coming and that neither star player even wanted. Toronto and San Antonio had been speaking about trade packages for Kawhi Leonard for two weeks but then plenty of teams had been making offers for Kawhi and nobody was willing to get frisky and chuck their best assets in there for a dude who has made it rather clear that he’d prefer to go to Los Angeles in free agency in twelve months’ time and might be injured anyway.
But then on a Wednesday night in Aotearoa, which must have meant the small hours of the morning in America, Woj and Shams both came out swinging with news of the imminent deal. This is the NBA’s offseason and fans still aren’t allowed to sleep. Half an hour after midnight in NZ the move was confirmed. That’s 7.30am in San Antonio and 8.30am in Toronto, so at least they had the decency to wait until morning to confirm it.
The full deal is this: Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green to the Toronto Raptors with DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected first round pick to the San Antonio Spurs. That pick will go to the Spurs in 2019 if it lands outside the top 20 and if it doesn’t then it’ll be replaced by two second round picks.
Okay so first thing’s first is that even before the trade news broke there were these indications from the two highlight players of the transaction…
But then yeah, it happened anyway.
The situation with Kawhi and the Spurs has been ugly for a long time. They fell out over the diagnosis of his injury last season and never recovered. Senior Spurs players called him out for not testing a leg that the Spurs medical team thought was good enough to go again but which Leonard’s independent medical assessment suggested was not. They had different ideas of what the injury was and things crumbled from there. Leonard does not have a public persona. He’s barely spoken a word in public since he disappeared last season. We don’t really have any idea what his perspective on this is nor why a previously great relationship, which saw Leonard sign a five-year contract in 2015, should capitulate over a difference of opinions. But this is where we are now.
The Lakers wanted him and he wanted to go to the Lakers. But then the Lakers got LeBron James in free agency and both parties there were keen enough to do their thing over a couple of years rather than all at once. The impetus to throw assets at Kawhi when they can be favourites to sign him for nothing in a year’s time just wasn’t there. The Celtics were interested but wouldn’t include Jaylen Brown. The 76ers were interested but wouldn’t include Markelle Fultz. Whether or not the Spurs even wanted them is irrelevant – the point is that they weren’t getting equal value back.
Of course, that value’s scuppered by Kawhi’s player option after this season which would make him a free agent where nobody can tell him he has to go to Toronto instead of LA. He might only be a single-year rental but he’s also San Antonio’s franchise player and they wanted someone back in return who they could build around. The obvious candidates were wary of parting with their dudes for a guy they don’t even know if he’s fit to play or not. That left the non-obvious candidates.
Back in December the Raptors gave DeMar DeRozan the big pitch about expanding his game to include three-pointers and evolving into a ‘Kobe Bryant’ type beloved figure in the city he’s spent his entire nine-year career in until now. He did his best and next thing they won 59 games and a first round playoff series. Then they met LeBron.
To put things in context here, the Raptors are definitely a team in transition at the moment. Their duo of DeRozan and Kyle Lowry has been grinding out regular season wins for a few years now but failing in the playoffs. Last season they evolved things to get DeRozan shooting more threes but also they switched up their style around him, getting younger and more energetic. Blokes like Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Norman Powell all had good seasons. They were feeling great until they got swept by the Cavs in the second round. Next thing they’d sacked Dwane Casey. The same Dwane Casey who went on to win the Coach of the Year award. You could say they’ve gotten a little panicky, sure.
Two weeks ago during Summer League DeMar DeRozan was told he wouldn’t be traded. But in true American fashion, it turns out they actually meant ‘would’, he ‘would’ be traded. They misspoke. DMDR wasn’t too chuffed with that but he’ll be fine once he gets to San Antonio. His lethal mid-range jumper doesn’t have a home in a lot of NBA franchises these days and even Toronto had their worries there, the three point encouragement making it blatant, but San Antonio is a place where he can be comfortable with it. They’ve done good by LaMarcus Aldridge so they’ll do good by DeMar DeRozan. And as for missing Leonard, well he barely even played last season anyway and they still won 47 games. Chuck DeMar in there replacing Danny Green and they’re still well in contention in that crowded Western Conference.
The trickier thing to balance is what’s going on in Toronto. By trading their number one All Star they’re effectively gambling on doing an OKC. A year ago Paul George was traded to the Thunder amidst the adamant belief that he’d rather be a Laker. A year later he re-signed for multiple years, pretty much saying to LA that they had their chance and they sat on their hands, he’s happy enough in OKC with old mate Rusty Buckets. Although at the very least the Raps will clear some cap space.
Kawhi Leonard’s in a bit of a different headspace. It’ll be tough to convince him to stick around. But, I mean, it’s worth a go. He’s a legitimate All-NBA talent when he’s healthy and those types of players are almost impossible to find. A year-long recruiting drive begins now. As to Kawhi’s health, he’s planning on attending the Team USA mini-camp to prove his fitness so he should be ready for the new season. Might be a bit awkward there with coach Gregg Popovich but then Pop’s a nice guy.
One way or another, this is a huge gamble from Masai Ujiri and the Raptors front office. They should have a solid season with Kawhi but if he opts out and leaves then they might have no choice but to rebuild. To go from championship aspirations (however unproven they might have been) to burning it all down as swift as that and to leave it in the hands of a player who spent almost all of last season out injured and then fell out with a franchise that’s regarded as one of the most player-friendly in the league who has already made it clear he never wanted to join you in the first place… that takes guts, my friends. Fair play to them.
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